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Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo defended his rolling up into a ball like Sonic the Hedgehog and taking out Austin Hedges last night saying that most people don’t understand the rule like he does.
Padres' Austin Hedges injured in collision | MLB.com
"I've talked to a lot of umpires about this rule," he said. "My understanding is if [the catcher has] the ball, it's game on."
It turns out that he, manager Joe Maddon and every Cubs fan in my Twitter mentions are the ones that don’t understand the rule. MLB has officially concluded that Rizzo violated the rule meant to protect catchers from such collisions.
Sources: MLB tells Cubs, Padres that Anthony Rizzo collision violated rule | FOX Sports
Major League Baseball, according to sources, informed both clubs Tuesday that Rizzo was in violation of Rule 7.13, which the sport introduced in 2014 to protect catchers from such collisions.
Joe Torre is reviewing the play further to see if there will be any repercussions for Rizzo. It doesn’t sound likely and Padres Manager Andy Green doesn’t like the sound of that.
Should Rizzo be suspended? Green "I don't know. That's for MLB to determine. If the rule doesn't have teeth...then what's the point of it"
— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) June 20, 2017
If I’m the commissioner I give a short suspension to Rizzo and Maddon, three to four weeks tops, where they will take an intensive course on the rules of baseball. Then on their return I only allow Rizzo to catch the remainder of the season. Then I vacate their World Series Championship from last season.